Were Christians as strong as Jehovah's Witnesses against Hitler in ww2?

Answer 1

Mainstream Christians were deafening in their silence when it came officially denounceing Hitler's regime in World War 2. While the Jehovah's Witnesses publicly exposed and denounced Hitlers methods, including reporting the existence of concentration camps, the churches of Christendom on the whole failed to voice opposition to the Nazi.

"The overwhelming majority of all Germans from non-Nazi backgrounds found ways of existing under a regime they despised... at the other end of the statistical and ideological spectrum were the 20,000 Jehovah's Witnesses who, practically to a person, unequivocally refused to render any form of obedience to the Nazi State... The most cohesive group of resisters were sustained by religion. From the first, Jehovah's Witnesses did not cooperate with any facet of the Nazi state. Even afer the Gestapo destroyed their national headquarters in 1933 and banned the sect in 1935, they refused to do so much as say "Heil Hitler". [...] Catholics and Protestants heard their clergy urge them to cooperate with Hitler. If they resisted, they did so against orders from both church and state" -- Historian, Claudia Koonz, Mothers of the Fatherland pub. 1986

The documented church response to Adolf Hitler's Third Rietch is as follows:

"Before God and on the Holy Gospels I swear and promise-as becomes a bishop-loyalty to the German Reich and to the state ... and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honor it." -- The Catholic Church oath of fealty to be taken by all bishops,

"Catholic Church, the greatest moral power on earth, through the Concordat expressed its confidence in the new German government." -- Cardinal Faulhaber, on The Concordat (Reichskonkordat ) signed between the Catholic Church and Adolf Hitler on July 14, 1933

In response to the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses:

There is now one countryon earth where the so-called ... Bible students [Jehovah's Witnesses] are forbidden. That is German! When Adolf Hilter came to power and the German Catholic Episcopate repeated their request, Hitler Said: "These so-called Earnest Bible Student are troublemakers... I dissolve [Jehovah's Witnesses] in Germany" -- Der Deutsche Weg May 29, 1938

"The German Lutheran Church of the State of Saxony [...] will attempt in closest cooperation with the political leaders of our people [...] The first results of this cooperation can already be reported in the ban today placed upon the International Association of Earnest Bible Students and its subdivisions in Saxony. Yes, what a turning point through God's direction. Up until now God has been with us" -- radio address on April 20, in honor of Hitler's birthday, The Oschatzer Gemeinnützige, April 21, 1933

Hitler was never formally excommunicated from the Catholic church.

The Church in Nazi Germany was subjected to as much pressure as any other organisation in Germany. Any perceived threat to Hitler could not be tolerated - and the churches of Germany potentially presented the Nazis with numerous threats.

In 1933, the Catholic Church had viewed the Nazis as a barrier to the spread of communism from Russia. In this year, Hitler and the Catholic Church signed an agreement that he would not interfere with the Catholic Church while the Church would not comment on politics. However, this only lasted until 1937, when Hitler started a concerted attack on the Catholic Church arresting priests etc. In 1937, the pope, Pius XI, issued his "Mit brennender Sorge" statement ("With burning anxiety") over what was going on in Germany. However, there was never a total clampdown on the Catholic Church in Germany. It was a world-wide movement with much international support.

The Protestant Church was really a collection of a number of churches - hence they were easier to deal with. The Protestants themselves were split. The "German Christians" were lead by Ludwig Muller who believed that any member of the church who had Jewish ancestry should be sacked from the church. Muller supported Hitler and in 1933 he was given the title of "Reich Bishop".

Those who opposed the views of Muller were called the "Congressional Church". This was led by Martin Niemoller. He was famous in Germany as he had been a World War One U-boat captain. Therefore, he was potentially an embarrassing foe to the Nazis. Regardless of this, he was not safe from the Gestapo who arrested him for opposing Hitler. Niemoller was sent to a concentration camp for 7 years where he was kept in solitary confinement. Many other Confessional Church members suffered the same fate.

The book by Professor Christine King for her doctoral thesis "The Nazi State and the new religions" is a powerful read and tell the story from an academic point of view with no JW bias. It comes down firmly in support of the witnesses.